La Unión Restaurant offers a blend of both Salvadoran and Mexican dishes for a diverse Arlington community.
To some folks, La Unión is a municipality in the La Unión Department of El Salvador, but for the people here in Arlington, it’s a local restaurant where you can order some top notch inspired Salvadoran and Mexican food.
More than 150 weeks have passed since Dr. Mike Silverman, the emergency department chair at VHC Health, started his Friday night posts about the Covid pandemic.
The public Facebook posts have helped provide medical context and clarity, but in layman’s terms, to those seeking a better understanding of the disease and the response to it. ARLnow has regularly quoted Silverman’s posts in our coronavirus coverage.
Arlington’s small business community is strong and resilient. However, local businesses continue to face challenges from economic uncertainty, drops in consumer confidence, losses in access to capital, and disruptions from artificial intelligence. BizLaunch, a division of Arlington Economic Development, continues to rise to the challenge by supporting over 6,000 small businesses in Arlington with one-on-one counseling, innovative programming and robust marketing to encourage consumers to shop locally.
During a recent presentation to the Small Business Coordinating Council, BizLaunch Director Tara Palacios highlighted fiscal year 2026 results that underscore both the impact of Arlington’s business support programs and the pressures ahead.
BizLaunch provided technical assistance to entrepreneurs at a level 56% above its annual goal, reflecting sustained demand for one-on-one advising and business guidance. The division also served a diverse business community, including 52% women-owned businesses and 45% minority-owned enterprises. Nearly a quarter — 24% — of clients were in food and retail, industries that continue to face heightened economic pressure.
Major marketing and PR campaigns drove engagement across Arlington. Small Business Saturday, one of BizLaunch’s signature programs, prompted more than 4,141 transactions and $211,862 in consumer spending through the Open Rewards incentive, supported by a $10,625 investment of County funds. A coordinated marketing campaign with the BIDs and Partnerships further amplified the effort, generating more than 56,000 organic social media impressions, 44,000 video views and 1,619 engagements, along with nearly 2,000 paid ad clicks.
Support for business development through programming has also expanded. The BizLaunch Transformational Challenge and Pitchfest drew 40 participants for a five-week training program covering strategic planning, marketing, artificial intelligence and financial management. Participants developed pitch decks and presented to a panel of private lenders and business leaders. In all $25,000 was awarded to local businesses through the pitch event which came from private donations and contributions from the Industrial Development Authority. (more…)
Don’t be surprised if you see lots of emergency activity and hear loudspeaker announcements coming from Fort Myer this coming Wednesday.
It’s all for a planned training exercise that Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall is holding from 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
Silicon Valley Bank Failure Hits Home — “Banking regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank Friday morning in a stunningly swift collapse of a financial institution entwined in the D.C. region’s startup ecosystem… Based in Santa Clara, California, Silicon Valley Bank operated an office in Rosslyn… Arlington restaurant software platform company MarginEdge, like many tech startups, maintained a deposit account at Silicon Valley Bank but moved the ‘lion’s share’ of its funds to a different financial institution on Thursday, co-founder and CEO Bo Davis told the Washington Business Journal in an email.” [Washington Business Journal]
Substance Abuse Discussion Tonight — “Arlington H.S.-wide substance abuse crisis panel March 13 at TJ [Middle School] — this event is hosted in part by W-L, Wakefield and Yorktown high schools. Speakers from DEA, DHS, Arlington PD/Fire.” [Twitter]
Tree Steward Fall Training Applications Open
Residents worried about our urban forest, their neighbor’s tree, or the declining oak in their own yard can apply now for a seven-week course to learn about trees and become a volunteer Tree Steward with Tree Stewards of Arlington and Alexandria.
Good Friday evening, Arlington. Today we published articles that were read a total of 8256 times… so far.
The following are the most-read articles for today — Mar 10, 2023.
(Updated at 8:40 p.m.) Gunston Middle School was locked down this afternoon due to a threat.
Arlington County police said the discovery of a “written threat” prompted the lockdown and investigation. The exact nature of the threat was not given.
Like all the cool kids, the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) is expanding to Alexandria.
The nonprofit food pantry announced in a release that it is launching a new distribution center in The Waypoint at Fairlington, an affordable housing complex at 2451 Menokin Drive that opened last year.
Arlington County firefighters rescued a person from underneath a Metro train last night (Thursday) in Crystal City.
Arlington County Fire Department units were dispatched to the Crystal City Metro station (1750 S. Clark Street) at 8:25 p.m. for a report of an individual struck by a train, per a press release today. They found the person under a train, “conscious and alert.”
Arlington police are investigating a carjacking that happened last night near the Riverhouse apartment complex in Pentagon City.
The suspects were armed and reportedly stole a BMW.
